"Better there than in your bed," she countered evenly. "As for ignorance, my lord, yours is unsurpassed. You have been blinded by your own greed. You had Jason Savage all along. You had him here, in your house, in this very room. You had him in irons the moment you had the shackles put on Justin's wrists and ankles."
Ranulf's hand tightened on the glass and it took almost a full minute before the tension eased enough that the snifter was not in danger of shattering.
"A nice try, my dear," he murmured. "But you forget, I have met Jason Savage before. I sat not five feet away from the man at the tribunal that convicted Captain Trimbel and sentenced him to hang. I came face to face with Savage after the trial when he swore he would get his revenge for the lies perpetrated against the captain of the Scorpio."
It was China's turn to smile. "Nevertheless, Justin is the man you seek. He bought the Scorpio at auction and renamed her the Reunion. He has been captain these past six years since the real Jason Savage died at sea."
Ranulf's face blanched. The veins in his neck and temples corded and throbbed like blue snakes. "I don't believe you. It isn't possible for him to have masqueraded as Jason Savage for six years without someone uncovering the ruse before now. It is a trick. A stupid and futile attempt at a trick."
"No, Sir." China stood up, her gaze level and steady on his. "Unlike you, I have an aversion to deceit. Ask your Judas if you do not believe me. He has known about the masquerade all along...but then again...he obviously had his own reasons for keeping it secret from you, else why would he have felt the need to murder Bessy Toone."
Ranulf's expression altered completely. "Bessy Toone? What does she have to do with this?"
China studied his face, but there was nothing to see aside from genuine surprise and shock. "Bessy was Jason Savage's mistress. Justin's mistress. That was why his gold chain and coin were found in her room, and that was how he knew you were being blackmailed and that you would be carrying a large sum of money home on the night you were robbed. She was his mistress and his spy. Everything you confided to her in the throes of passion, she shared with him."
Ranulf swung out hard and fast, the slap catching China on the side of her face and sending her reeling sideways. He dropped the brandy snifter, ignoring the crash and shattering of the crystal, and reached for a fistful of China's hair, pulling her up straight and swinging back with his free hand to slap her again.
"Where is he? Where is the bastard?"
"I don't know," she gasped.
"Lying bitch!" He raised his hand again, and this time the signet ring he wore left an ugly gash across her cheek as he backhanded her, then shoved her viciously back. She stumbled blindly against a small table, knocking it to the floor, then tripped and sprawled heavily beside it.
"Where is he?"
China's cheeks were stinging from the pain of the blows, her senses were reeling, and when she tried to push herself upright, she cut her hand on a sliver of broken crystal.
Ranulf stalked closer, his forehead beaded with sweat, the corners of his mouth flecked with foam. "Where...is...Justin?"
"I don't know," she gasped. "It hardly matters if I did, because he will come looking for you, and when he finds you, he will kill you."
"Someone will die this night," Ranulf promised hoarsely.
He leaned down, his hands balled into fists, and China cried out, throwing both hands up in front of her face to ward off the expected blows. The first slapped her hands away, the second was hard enough to knock her head to the floor and render her unconscious.
To Mrs. Biggs, standing out in the hall, the sound of breaking glass followed by China's scream was simply too much to bear. She flung open the door and took in the scene with open-mouthed shock.
"What, in the name of all that's holy, is going on in here?"
Ranulf drew several panted breaths and slowly recovered his senses. He straightened and flexed his hands open, using one to wipe the sweat off his brow.
"Have my wife carried up to her rooms then lock her inside," he hissed. "I don't want her to see or speak to anyone--anyone! Do I make myself clear?"
Mrs. Biggs nodded, stunned. "But the guests, my lord. The party...?"
"If anyone asks, tell them the bride and groom were eager to commence their honeymoon."
Ranulf signaled to Chambers and the two men strode out of the room. Mrs. Biggs remained motionless, still too shocked to fully absorb what had happened. The gash on China's cheek was bleeding profusely and she finally knelt beside her, pressing a clean linen handkerchief over the wound.
"What in thunderation is going on here?" Eugene Cross appeared in the doorway, a drink in hand, a frown creasing his brow. "Everyone shouting and slamming doors. I just saw Ranulf and I swear he--" the thought was bitten off when he saw China. His jaw dropped and he rushed forward. "Good God. What happened? Is she hurt? Did she fall? Is that blood?"
"Please help me Mr. Eugene. Lady Cross has...fainted. She fell and cut herself and...and she fainted."
"Fainted? Cut herself? Then where the deuce has Ranulf gone? Should he not be here tending her?"
Mrs. Biggs was clearly torn in her loyalties. "Please Mr. Eugene. My lord asked that Lady Cross be taken to her rooms."
Eugene looked down again. This time he noticed the clear handprints that stood out red and angry on China's pale cheeks.
"He was extremely agitated," Mrs. Biggs added.
"So I see. Very well. We shall do as he says for now, but damn him, he had best have a good explanation for this when he gets back. Where has gone, anyway?"
"I do not know, Mr. Eugene, but Chambers was with him. Shall I fetch a footman?"
"No. No, I can manage. The chit is light as a feather anyway." Eugene seemed to remember the drink in his hand. He finished it with a loud gulp then set the glass aside. He lifted China gently and followed Mrs. Biggs out of the study and down the hall toward the servant's stairwell.
When they arrived at China's bedroom, Mrs. Biggs hastened inside and drew back the covers on the bed. The cut on her cheek had started to bleed again and Eugene scowled. "Fetch me some clean cloths and a basin of water."
Mrs. Biggs opened her mouth to protest but shut it again. "Yes, sir."
"You had best go downstairs again and tell the guests something before they lay out a search party."
Mrs. Biggs twisted her hands. "My lord gave clear instructions that I was to lock Lady Cross's door."
Eugene cast a wry glance over his shoulder. "Does it look as if the young lady requires locking up?"
"I have my orders Sir."
"Oh very well. Lock us both inside, if you must. But hurry with those cloths and water, the girl is bleeding all over my cuff."
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
China's head felt like a huge ball of throbbing fire. As she slowly returned to the world of the conscious, seven kinds of pain caused her to gasp, then whimper, then slowly force her eyes to open. With difficulty she brought them into focus and recognized the familiar shadows of her bedroom.
"Ahh, finally." Eugene Cross smiled and leaned forward in the chair he had placed beside the bed. "You gave us quite an anxious few minutes there, young lady."
China's mouth was dry as sand. "Wh-what happened? How--" she tried to move her head, to turn in Eugene's direction but a stab of pain stopped her-- "long...?"
"How long have you been here? Oh, twenty minutes or so I should think. You took a rather good crack on the head when you fell."
"Fell?" She strained to see through the shadows, as there was only one candle lit on the bedside table.
"So I was told. You fell, cut your cheek on the edge of the table. You don't remember?"
China frowned. Everything was hazy from the pain. She remembered being in the study. She remembered exchanging angry words with Ranulf, then...
"Oh," she whispered the one word, then fell silent again.
"You also bled excessively over my new frockcoat," he added with a gentle smirk, "as well as all over the Dra
gon Lady's sense of propriety."
China winced and attempted to elevate herself higher on the pillows. She was still in her wedding dress, although the bodice had been unlaced and the corset loosened. The row of delicate pearl buttons on the cuffs were undone to expose her wrists to a cool, wet cloth.
"I am led to assume that you and Ranulf had a disagreement of sorts?"
"Of sorts," she nodded.
"Over Justin?"
She blinked and glanced over. "Why do you say that?"
Eugene spread his hands wide. "Because Justin is usually the one at the center of any maelstrom these days. What has he done this time? Or, delicacy aside, should I ask what the two of you have done that has Ranulf snorting like a bull in heat? Scurrilous as he is, I don't believe for a moment that Justin kidnapped you and forced you aboard his slave ship. I don't believe my younger brother has had to force a woman to do anything since he was fourteen years of age."
"Eugene, please..." She closed her eyes wearily.
"You didn't strike me as being the worldly type," he continued nonplussed. "Or the type who would place possessions and title before a dashing, handsome young brigand. In truth, I am puzzled as to why you went ahead with this marriage at all. Ranulf is a bit of a tree stump when it comes to adventure of any sort. His smile requires two pins to hold it in place."
"I really don't feel like talking about it," she whispered. "Please...could I have some water?"
While Eugene poured a glass from the water jug, he pressed further. "It does help sometimes, you know, to have an outside opinion. Unbiased, as it were. Frankly, Justin has always seemed the more clever of the two. In battles of wit and endurance, he was always the one to emerge triumphant. Ranulf? Well, Ran is the tyrant of the family. The politician, God help Parliament. He has built his life around facts and figures and needs things to progress in an orderly fashion, with himself in control at all times. He doesn't quite understand that we all need a little stimulation now and then, what? A little excitement and unpredictability to keep the inner juices flowing."
"Justin said you enjoyed baiting the two of them," she said, sipping the cool water gratefully. "Is that what you mean by a little stimulation?"
Eugene laughed. "Justin said that? Then he is as perceptive and astute as I thought him to be. It isn't all brawn and insolence that he inherited from our father. Now then, won't you tell your favorite brother-in-law what this is all about? Locked rooms and beatings--" he held up a hand to forestall any protest. "I cannot help either you or Justin unless I know all the facts."
"Help us?"
"Mrs. Biggs is butter in my hands. She suffers from the notion that I am interested in her stiff-lipped daughter. Imagine. Me with a chambermaid. Oh, I've had my share of fun with the hired staff, don't get me wrong, and if the girl finds herself with a brat in her belly, that is as much to her blame as mine. At any rate, the Dragon Lady may have followed her orders to lock you in, but...as you can see...she left me with a key."
China's eyes flicked from the key he held up in his hand, over to the locked bedroom door. She could get away from here! She could escape from Braydon Hall before Ranulf came back.
"We have time," Eugene cautioned, seeing her start to struggle further upright. "Ranulf has ridden into town and taken Chambers with him. You don't want to up and faint again, do you? A few minutes rest might make all the difference."
China eased back onto the pillows, which stopped the room from spinning violently again. "I...I suppose you are right."
"Of course I am right. And what better way to pass the time than telling me what happened? You can start with yesterday. They tore this room and Justin's apart looking for devil-knows-what."
"The billfold with the ten thousand pounds," China said, rubbing her temples to hasten the end of the dizziness. "Mrs. Biggs found it in my bureau drawer."
"Ten thousand pounds?"
China nodded and told him about Justin and Ted Bates dressing as highwaymen and robbing Ranulf on the Portsmouth Road. That led to an explanation of Bessy Toone's involvement in the sordid affair, which led to a retelling of the confrontation with the pieman, and the scene that resulted days later with Ranulf accusing Justin of attempting to rob him a second time on the bridge. The tale ended with her leaving Braydon Hall and seeking Justin at the Boars Head Inn, then being captured with him on board the Reunion.
"Quite the adventure," Eugene commented at the end. "But where was the elusive Captain Savage through all of this? I gathered the reason for most of Ran's foul temper this morning was because Savage was not on board the ship when he sprang his little trap."
"He was," she said. "Ranulf just wasn't aware of it at the time. He did not know that Justin and Jason Savage are one and the same man."
"How extraordinary," he said on a shocked exhale of breath. "And no one knew?"
"Someone knew," she said bitterly. "Whoever killed Bessy Toone and blamed it on Justin knew."
"Why...? Oh. Oh, yes, I see. He would have to know the girl had never met the real Justin Cross. But what of his crew? Surely they all knew and could be held suspect."
"Only two knew the real Jason Savage died some years ago. One of them...Ted Bates...I am almost positive is the one who has been blackmailing Ranulf about your father's presence on the Orion when it was sunk."
For a long moment, Eugene showed no reaction. He continued to study her face, the torn wedding gown with the spatters of blood, the dainty slippered feet that peeked out from beneath the velvet hem. At length, his gaze rose to hers and he asked in a voice as silky as the ribbons in her hair, "Exactly what do you know about that? Was it Justin who told you? Or Ranulf himself...boasting?"
"Boasting? Why would anyone boast about such a thing?"
Eugene stood and walked slowly to the corner of the bed, gripping the post in one hand, leaning against it with his shoulder. His tall, stocky frame was in silhouette against the fire in the hearth.
"I imagine the entire world will know our tawdry little secrets soon enough," he murmured, the anger thickening his words. "Secrets that were never meant to go beyond the walls of this house."
"You knew all along that Ranulf was being blackmailed?"
"What? Of course I knew. I was the one blackmailing him."
China blinked, thinking she had misheard him. "I don't understand."
"Who else had the knowledge and cunning to do it? A sailor? Come now, China. Ranulf is nothing but a greedy despot. He rules this house and everyone in it as if they were his personal property. He dictates what we may eat and when we may eat it. He even selects the wines and spirits we are permitted to drink and hoards his supply under lock and key. But I was the fox this time. I knew all about Father's dirty little secret. I knew where he kept his papers and correspondence with his compatriots in France, and before he had time to remove them all to the Orion, I 'borrowed' a few. A diary. Some letters. Proof of his intent to support Bonaparte's plans for invading England. Enough to tell the whole sordid tale.
"I started on Justin because he was younger and hot-tempered. I put some papers where I knew he would find them and, being the clever lad he is, delve into the secrets that went down with the Orion. I knew he bought the slaver at auction and I knew he changed the name and resurrected her as the Reunion...but masquerading as Jason Savage all these years? I did not expect that, no indeed. It shows he has true flair. It is unfortunate I did not find out about it sooner, but no matter. It worked out well in the long run, because when I began to blackmail Ran with the papers, I timed my demands to match the comings and goings of the Reunion. He was naturally convinced the blackmailer was Jason Savage."
"You could blackmail your own brothers by threatening to tell the world your father was a traitor?"
"As I said, it was never meant to go beyond these walls. What is more, I prefer the term 'just rewards' to blackmail...or 'payment due' for all the years I have lived in Ranulf's shadow having to play the buffoon. And in truth, it was working out marvelously well." Eugene p
aused and sighed. "I was bleeding him dry. One by one the creditors stopped giving him allowances. The clubs were not so friendly. The tailors, the shopkeepers, even the butcher started demanding payment of past due bills. The banks refused any more credit; this estate is mortgaged to the last shingle. I thought he was finished." His knuckles turned white on the bedpost. "Imagine my surprise when he tells me he is marrying into a bloody fortune and all of his troubles will be over. How do you think that made me feel...all my efforts wasted?"
Eugene moved away from the corner of the bed. He stood at the foot and stared along the length at China. His formal white coat and stocky shoulders were vivid against the gloom, reminding China of the night she had first seen an intruder in her room.
"It was you," she whispered, her eyes widening. "It was you in my room those nights, not Justin, not a servant. You."
Eugene shrugged. "I only meant to frighten you a little. To anger Ranulf and set a spark to Justin's need to play fox and hound. I had no idea it would be so successful. Ran must have pissed blood when he discovered you in flagrante delicto with our little brother. Visions of all that money leaking down your thighs."
China brushed a hand across her eyes as if that would help clear her thinking. All it did was draw her attention to the fact that Eugene had taken off his frockcoat and was now loosening the knot of his neckcloth.
"What are you doing?"
"Doing?" He arched an eyebrow. "I should think that is rather obvious. Ranulf has gone to hunt Justin down with the intent to kill him. If Justin kills him first, which, in all likelihood he will do, that would remove a major obstacle to our future happiness. It will also put two counts of murder against Justin, who will have no choice but to flee the country to save his own neck. So you see? Once Ran and Justin are out of the way, that will leave us free to marry, to tell everyone how it truly is between us."
"Between us? There is nothing between us," she gasped. "Get out. Get out of my room before I--"
"Before you what?" Eugene smiled and pulled the hem of his shirt from his trousers. "Scream? There is so much noise and revelry going on downstairs no one will hear you. And even if they did, they would assume it is the bride screaming over the loss of her virginity beneath her lusty new husband."
China Rose Page 23
